In Summary

The plane, British Airways Boeing 747, left the airport an hour later than scheduled but was reportedly plagued by a nose gear issue.

According to an article on the Daily Mail, the 747 left Heathrow Airport at 11:23am and was expected to land in Nairobi, Kenya slightly before 8pm UK time.

A British Airways flight on Thursday left Heathrow Airport for Nairobi only for a technical hitch to force it to abort the journey, dump its fuel and head back to the London terminal.

The plane, British Airways Boeing 747, left the airport an hour later than scheduled but was reportedly plagued by a nose gear issue.

According to an article by the Daily Mail, the 747 left Heathrow Airport at 11:23am and was expected to land in Nairobi, Kenya slightly before 8pm UK time.

“According to reports on social media, the plane’s nose gear became stuck after take-off. The plane then had to circle the area at around 8,000ft, dumping fuel so it could land again,” reports Daily Mail.

In case of a problem, planes must dump fuel before landing as a fuel-laden plane is too heavy to land safely. Fuel dumping happens at high altitude where it is able to dissipate preventing it from reaching the ground in liquid form.